Watch for Perseid’s “fireball” meteors, even with moonlight

A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky during the Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 11, 2009 in Vinton, Calif. (Kevin Clifford, AP)

With more “fireball” meteors on average than any other meteor shower, Perseid — the so-called “fireball champion” of meteor showers — is set to peak during the predawn hours on Wednesday.

NASA says this year’s Perseid meteor shower should peak early Wednesday around 3 a.m. with a projected 30 to 40 meteors per hour. Viewers should be able to spot meteors as soon as darkness falls, but activity will increase as dawn approaches and the constellation Perseus rises higher in the sky.

Under perfect conditions, Perseid can peak with as many as 100 meteors per hour. But tonight viewers will have to contend with the waning effects of Sunday’s full moon, which will reduce counts. Still, experts say the fireball meteors — very bright meteors that can be as bright as Jupiter or Venus — should outshine the now past-its-prime supermoon.

“Comet Swift-Tuttle has a huge nucleus — about 26 km in diameter,” said meteor expert Bill Cooke in NASA’s Science News. “As a result, Comet Swift-Tuttle produces a large number of meteoroids, many of which are large enough to produce fireballs.”

According to data recorded from 2008 to 2013, Perseids have produced 568 fireballs — about 140 more than second-place Geminids meteor showers.

As with any meteor shower, it is best to find dark skies and escape the light pollution found in cities. Either way, fireball meteors should be visible in urban areas, NASA said, unless, of course, there are clouds. Forecasts for the Front Range tonight call for partly cloudy skies and around 50 percent cloud coverage predicted from midnight through Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

The Earth began its pass through the comet’s debris stream in July and will keep continue to pass through till the end of August, so keep your eyes peeled even after tonight.

Lastly: Stuck inside or having trouble spotting anything? No worries. NASA will be streaming the meteor shower live here, or you can give a listen here for some meteor echoes.

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